I just traded for a very nice browning silver hunter it came with a 30in barrel which is just a little to long for my liking. My question is would a gunsmith be able to cut my barrel to 26in and redo the threads so I would be able to put my chokes in.

I'm betting that unless a different choke tube design is used, that job is going to be more work than its worth. The Silver uses a light contour barrel. When looking down the side of the barrel on my Silver the glossy finish makes it pretty easy to see that the muzzle was expanded prior to threading to accept the choke tubes. My BPS isn't. It's barrel is roughly the same diameter at the choke section as it is a few inches behind it. I'm guessing that it would be pretty hard to rethread it for invector plus tubes. The smith would have to duplicate that expansion and then modify the bottom side of the front rib post to match the new barrel contour.

I think you would be better off looking for a different barrel. Possibly someone would like a trade. The sporting shooters tend to like longer barrels. The extra weight keeps the momentum of the swing going.

flyndutchman wrote:I think you would be better off looking for a different barrel. Possibly someone would like a trade. The sporting shooters tend to like longer barrels. The extra weight keeps the momentum of the swing going.

That's what I'd do. Put up and add in the classifieds and see if anyone wants to do a trade. You never know. You may get what you want and only be out a few bucks for shipping.

z51 wrote:As I said earlier, TruChokes will work that's why most gunsmiths buy have the tooling.

I'm not a smith so I can't for sure but I don't think it will be quite as simple as say, an 870 or an old A5. The Silver uses the bigger .742 bore diameter. I just took some measurements on my Silver and came up with this....

.895 o.d. at choked section of the muzzle..828 o.d. behind the expanded/choked section of the muzzle.

So let's say we lop of the choked section and start from scratch. Subtract the bore diameter (.742) from the outside diameter of the barrel (.828) and you get .086. Divide that number in half to get your barrel wall thickness and you end up with .046. That doesn't seem like much meat to work with. If someone does offer a thin wall choke for a .742 bore diameter, you're in business but then again you may not be able to put steel shot through it anymore.

Briley and others have been putting chokes in those barrels for many years. I have a set of long Briley flush steel shot tubes in my SX2 with that very barrel. They were installed over ten years ago. My barrel was cut to 26" I assure you it's been done hundreds if not thousands of times.

You know, I was really trying to carry on a cordial conversation with you but I just couldn't let this one go. I never said it couldn't be done. I said it would take extra steps to install invector plus tubes that would be more work than its worth. I also said that it could probably be done with another style of tube. After taking some measurements it seemed possible that it may require thinwalled tubes. But you also "knew" that his gun could be tapped for factory tubes....see below.

z51 wrote:Yes, if he has the correct style of Invector taps for your model.......

That's funny. The o.d. of the barrel behind the flared choke section on my Silver (the kind of gun the op has, not a SX2) is .828. I just measured the o.d. of an invector plus tube and it clocked in at .829.....yeah, let those numbers sink in. If you cut off the expanded choke section of a Silver barrel you can't just tap it for an invector plus tube because the tube is bigger in diameter than the barrel is. If we were talking about taking an inch off the end and deepening the existing tube recess a little that would be one thing and probably doable, but lopping 4 inches off the end and starting from scratch in the narrow part of the barrel is not going to work with invector plus tubes unless you expand the new muzzle enough to accept the tube.

I don't remember what company it was but the best price I found was 100$ I had a old a5 done up... he fitted it with chokes that would seat in a thin barrel/smaller then normal diameter. I would have to look but I think there TC

whatever happened to the externally threaded chokes that were around a few years back???the barrel was threaded on the outside.personally I would get used to the 30" barrel, unless you are carting it around in the brush you shouldnt be at any disadvantage.

Best advice before you go through all the expense of a smith cutting down, rethreading and buying the tubes for the gun...Buy a new barrel from Browning...depending on what model you have they cost between $330-$430...price wise between the cut down and new barrel purchase you'll probably come out even. In the long run if you ever decide to sell the gun .,...you won't have a chopped up gun and you will have two barrels to offer a potential buyer...my two cents

I have had several barrels shortened and new tubes supplied. My BPS 10 was shortened and Briley contracted to fit new tubes, the same with my BPS 28 however these tubes have the proprietary Briley thread forms...................... There is a problem apparently with the legal liability aspect of cutting shotgun manufacturers proprietary threads in barrels however tubes are a different story, or so I have been lead to believe.......My Beretta 1201F had a very thin barrel and now sports Colonial tubes. All of the above were very expensive and my advice is to buy/trade for a barrel that fits your requirements.Lost

"It's not the game but the chase ~ not the trophy but the race !" from my Dad, many years ago.

[quote="lostknife4"]I have had several barrels shortened and new tubes supplied. My BPS 10 was shortened and Briley contracted to fit new tubes, the same with my BPS 28 however these tubes have the proprietary Briley thread forms...................... There is a problem apparently with the legal liability aspect of cutting shotgun manufacturers proprietary threads in barrels however tubes are a different story, or so I have been lead to believe.......My Beretta 1201F had a very thin barrel and now sports Colonial tubes. All of the above were very expensive and my advice is to buy/trade for a barrel that fits your requirements.Lost[/quote.

You are right.

It is expensive to have someone cut and custom tube a barrel. It was $225 on my SX2 to cut and thread and for 3 stainless long chokes and a speed wrench. That was near 10 years ago, but I wanted the best setup I could get at the time. At that time I had the short invectors. I have had several guns cut and choked over the years because I like short barrels and good chokes. I have had Cononial thin wall Tru Chokes in my SX-1 for 25 years and have shot lots of steel early on in that gun. A bunch of people told me it wouldn't work. There are a bunch of arm chair " experts" giving advice that don't have clue. Trading barrels is a viable option but that wasn't the question. It depends on what you want to accomplish.

lostknife4 wrote:I have had several barrels shortened and new tubes supplied. My BPS 10 was shortened and Briley contracted to fit new tubes, the same with my BPS 28 however these tubes have the proprietary Briley thread forms...................... There is a problem apparently with the legal liability aspect of cutting shotgun manufacturers proprietary threads in barrels however tubes are a different story, or so I have been lead to believe.......My Beretta 1201F had a very thin barrel and now sports Colonial tubes. All of the above were very expensive and my advice is to buy/trade for a barrel that fits your requirements.If it's factory available or a Wadlock perhaps, otherwise do as we have done but make sure you have lot's of disposable income to do it.Lost[/quote.

You are right.

It is expensive to have someone cut and custom tube a barrel. It was $225 on my SX2 to cut and thread and for 3 stainless long chokes and a speed wrench. That was near 10 years ago, but I wanted the best setup I could get at the time. At that time I had the short invectors. I have had several guns cut and choked over the years because I like short barrels and good chokes. I have had Cononial thin wall Tru Chokes in my SX-1 for 25 years and have shot lots of steel early on in that gun. A bunch of people told me it wouldn't work. There are a bunch of arm chair " experts" giving advice that don't have clue. Trading barrels is a viable option but that wasn't the question. It depends on what you want to accomplish.

"It's not the game but the chase ~ not the trophy but the race !" from my Dad, many years ago.